An Array of Senses
by Christophine
Summary: Exploring the Hamoto clan's relationship with April by use of the five senses.


Touch

Leonardo started from sleep with a jerk that made his head spin. Heart pounding, he waited, tense in the dark as he listened for anything unusual in the lair. Nothing could have penetrated Donnie's security without setting off a warning signal, but Leo never knew from one day to the other what new contraptions their enemies would concoct next.

Hearing nothing immediately out of the ordinary, he rose slowly from his bed, katana in hand, and made his way stealthily through the lair.. He couldn't be sure of the time, but it felt early in the morning; too early to be awake. He checked the bedrooms of Splinter and his brothers as he crept by, and was rewarded by the sounds of snoring from each.

The room they had set up for April, however, was empty.

Alarm bells went off in Leo's mind. Had she gone to search for her father on her own? He hoped fervently that she hadn't. Since she had come to live with them, Splinter had made it clear that she was not to go anywhere alone; in the sewers or above.

That didn't mean April would obey those orders…

Leo was nearly ready to wake everyone up and form a search party when he suddenly stumbled upon April, fast asleep on the couch. He started again, blinking several times in the dim light before concluding that he wasn't just imagining things. There she was in her pajamas, curled up against an armrest, her red hair lying in tumbles over the couch. The images he'd conjured of her peril faded, and he relaxed his ninja stealth in a sigh of relief. That was what had woken him, then; April wandering around the lair before collapsing on the couch in exhaustion. No real trouble.

He stepped forward to wake her.

No, leave her alone, a voice in his head told him. He nodded to himself. No reason for her to be awake twice in one night. He'd just have to remind her tomorrow that he was sensitive to movement, especially in at night.

But, even as he turned to go back to bed, something caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder at April again, trying to figure out what was different about her. She looked the same as always, even in sleep, with her red hair…

…Not tied back in a ponytail. He turned back and craned his neck for a closer look. Yeah, that was it. He'd never seen April with her hair down before. She always kept it tied back and out of the way, as if it were a nuisance to be restrained and contained.

Now here it was, loose and wild, like a creature let out of its cage.

Leo crept closer until he was standing over the girl. She didn't wake as he looked down on her; her chest rose and fell in deep sleep. Whatever uneasiness had chased her out of her room at that hour had vanished into what seemed a calm, restful sleep. She didn't snore like his brothers. Her breathing was a whisper, almost a hum as Leo bent closer still to examine her hair.

Hair was weird to the turtle. His mutation had come without hair of any type, so he couldn't fathom the fascination humans had with their hair. Biologically, it made some sense. It grew to protect their heads from extreme weather. Supposedly. But Leo had seen some humans ignore that aspect of their biology by creating the wildest styles, from Mohawks to buzz-cuts to complete baldness…and several of their own choosing with that last one. He had seen the wildest colors of human hair: brown, black, blue, green, pink, red, magenta…oh, just name a color humans hadn't streaked or completely dyed their hair with. At least April's red hair was natural.

The way they treated their hair, too, pulling it back in knots or ponytails, braiding it in one rope or creating waves of braids around their head, fascinated him. So many choices for something that was supposed to keep them warm. Sensei had told him that human hair even had different textures, depending on genetics or geography. Some humans had hair that was rough and thick while others cared for fine thin hair that snapped off easily. So strange and different.

 _What does April's hair feel like?_

His fingers suddenly itched. Barely breathing, he held out a hand, palm facing down, and carefully, gently touched two fingers to a lock of red hair hanging over the edge of the couch. What he touched was as soft as the silk of Sensei's robe. It felt unusual; unreal. How was hair this soft able sustain anything?

Overwhelmed by something he couldn't understand, Leo stroked April's hair from the tips to the thickness of it against her head. He marveled that she didn't stir at all under his touch.

Then, he immediately pitied the young girl.

She was completely worn out. She'd lost her father, her life, and even her freedom thanks to the Kraang. What girl in the world would willingly live in the sewers with an oversized rat and a handful of mutant turtles? She was probably the only one.

 _And she's my age_ , Leo's suddenly realized. _We're the same age, yet she's fighting to do now what I've been training for my whole life_. She's lost more than I have. He marveled at that as he paused to look at April's sleeping face, his hand now resting on the crown of her head. She was soft and gentle, yet a strong force when needed.

Like her hair. Leo smiled fondly at the girl, using one finger to draw a strand of hair from her eyes and tuck it behind her shoulder.

Odd that human hair was no stranger than humans, after all.


End file.
